


I've been searching and searching for you

by swallowthewhale



Series: Lemon Dreams [48]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24930268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swallowthewhale/pseuds/swallowthewhale
Summary: It’s not Kamilla that Cisco meets at the bar and asks on a date. It takes 53 tries and a time loop to get their first date right. This is their second date.
Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Caitlin Snow
Series: Lemon Dreams [48]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/734043
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	I've been searching and searching for you

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon on tumblr who asked for Cisco and Caitlin's 2nd date.

Cisco can hardly believe that she agreed to go on a second date with him, after the disaster of their first date. Well, the 52 disasters of their first date followed by being extraordinarily late on the 53rd time loop. But she’s still there when he shows up to Jitters, breathless, reading on her tablet with a cup of coffee already on the table in front of her. She raises an eyebrow when he apologizes with a vague explanation of a work emergency, but smiles, sets aside her tablet and asks instead about the science he’d mentioned when they met. Cisco admits he's more of a tech nerd, and he’s hit a bit of a dead end with the bio side of the project. That’s when her eyes light up, she casually informs him that she has degrees in biochemistry and bioengineering, and Cisco falls completely in love.

So maybe it’s not actually too much of a surprise that Caitlin agrees to a second date.

They meet at the Museum of Science on a Saturday morning, Cisco’s phone set to do-not-disturb and a strongly worded text sent to the rest of Team Flash that he is only to be interrupted if the world is ending. Which, the likelihood of that is higher than it should be, since the world seems to be on the verge of ending every other Tuesday.

Caitlin’s there when he arrives, sitting on the ledge outside the building in a nice pair of jeans and a pretty blouse. He guides her in, waves them through the ticket line with his season pass, and waits gleefully for her to spot the reason he’d suggested the museum.

It’s worth the secrecy. Her eyes light up as she grabs his arm with both hands. “Cisco! The genome exhibit is this weekend!” She shakes him gently. “Did you know?”

He grins at her. “Hmmm, the genome exhibit?” he teases, starting to walk in that direction. “I thought you would like the touch tanks.”

She wrinkles her nose at him, but she’s smiling, and her hand stays tucked into his elbow, Caitlin’s quiet demeanor fading away into excitement as she narrates their way through the exhibit. Cisco mostly lets her talk, intercepting with questions to keep her going.

He loves hearing her talk, loves the glee of spotting some new information she hadn’t heard before, loves the breadth and depth of the intelligence hiding behind a bartender who makes a mean Shirley Temple.

They get lunch at the museum cafe, heads bent together as they discuss the various ways metahuman genomes might differ, the possibility of a metahuman genome project, and how the metahuman treatment could work.

When there’s finally a lull, Cisco casually asks, “So, Dr. Snow, how’d a genius with two Ph.D.s end up bartending?”

Her face pinches and she pokes at her salad. “I used to work at Tannhauser Industries.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Then the particle accelerator exploded.”

Cisco swallows hard, forcing himself to fold his hands in his lap.

“My fiancee died in the explosion, he was working at Star Labs, and I was there for the launch, too. I was… affected.” Their eyes meet. Caitlin’s flash blue and she reaches out to touch Cisco’s fork. It ices over. She looks away.

“You’re a meta,” Cisco says softly.

“I didn’t have very good control at first. I would wake up surrounded by snow in the morning, or the pipes would burst because all the water would freeze in the shower. When I went to my mom for help, her assistant tried to trap me, to study me. I lost control and… he had third-degree burns. I don’t think he’ll ever fully recover.”

Cisco reaches out slowly to cover her hand with his. “Caitlin.”

She looks up, startled.

“I get it.”

Caitlin smiles bitterly and tries to tug her hand away. “No-”

He holds it firmly. “I’m Vibe.”

Caitlin blinks at him. “You-”

“Yeah,” he smiles wryly at her. “I found out I was a meta when I started having visions of my death in an aborted timeline. I promise, I get it.”

Her eyebrows raise. “Aborted timeline?” She looks down at his hand on hers. The one that had just frozen his fork solid. “Okay, yeah. Well, I ran, went underground, left behind my job, my career, everything. I felt like I had lost my whole life in the explosion.” She exhales shakily. “I never thought I might have a chance to get that kind of life back.”

“What kind of life?”

Caitlin shrugs. “You know, a fulfilling job, a husband, a family.” She peers up at him shyly. “Maybe there’s more hope than I thought.”

Cisco beams at her. “Well, I think that calls for some celebration. Ice cream?”

Caitlin laughs. “Sounds perfect.”


End file.
